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Six things about SA you need to know

K-word passenger blames apartheid schooling

A passenger who was removed from a Kulula flight after calling the captain and her fellow passenger the k-word‚ has apologised‚ blaming her racist electronic rant to her fiance two weeks ago on apartheid education. Alochna Moodley’s fellow passenger‚ Reverend Solumuzi Mabuza‚ called out the Midrand woman for using the k-word. Moodley‚ 26‚ initially told the Sowetan she had used the slur out of frustration. She has since been fired from her job at an engineering manufacturing company. In a first-time mediation meeting between Mabuza and Moodley‚ on Tuesday‚ Moodley said: “My school curriculum did not teach me of the atrocities of apartheid. Any mention of it was in passing without the details of the oppression‚ especially of black people in this country.” Mabuza said that although he forgave Moodley, it was necessary for crimen injuria matter to go to court: “The legislatures … need to think carefully about how you root this out in terms of legislation.”

City takes legal action against Tshwane protesters

The City of Tshwane reacted angrily to news that protesters went on the rampage early on Tuesday‚ obstructing waste collection and disposal services. “Today’s unlawful actions of closing landfill sites‚ barring the city’s contracted companies from fulfilling their obligations‚ are reminiscent of last year’s disruption of waste-related services‚" said the city’s Lindela Mashigo‚ referring to June 2017 when the city had to obtain a court interdict against protesters. It was deeply concerning that protesters had “extended their aggressive behaviour” to “disrupting the delivery of water infrastructure and electricity projects”. The city had approached the court for an extension of the 2017 interdict to include other services or projects the city was implementing within communities.

No bail for man accused of raping stepdaughter

A Verulam man facing charges relating to the repeated rape of his 10-year-old stepdaughter over five years will remain behind bars for another two days. Magistrate Irfaan Khalil postponed the bail hearing so the prosecutor and the 44-year-old man’s Legal Aid defence attorney could prepare their closing arguments. He was arrested three weeks ago at his Rietvlei home after his stepdaughter confided in a neighbour about the alleged abuses. The widower faces charges of rape‚ sexual assault‚ sexual grooming of a minor and exposing a minor child to pornography‚ with the state poised to add more charges. He is also charged with child abuse relating to allegations that he prevented her from attending school. He cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the child who is in a place of safety.

Student on R14m theft rap gets more cash to study

Despite facing a theft charge for allegedly blowing just over R800‚000 of the R14-million erroneously deposited into her student account in 2017‚ Sibongile Mani was allocated an estimated R100‚000 by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme this year. While the NSFAS declined to comment‚ the Walter Sisulu University accounting student confirmed after her brief appearance in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday that she was studying with the scheme’s financial backing. WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo confirmed Mani was studying through NSFAS funding. Tukwayo said the course costs between R52‚000 and about R90‚000 per year excluding food‚ books‚ transport and accommodation. While Tukwayo‚ NSFAS and Mani declined to divulge the exact value of the funding‚ students close to Mani said it was in the region of R100‚000. NSFAS spokesman Kagisho Mamabolo said that since here was a criminal investigation “we are prohibited from making any public comments on this matter”.

Murder probe after fire dispatcher's body found

The body of a missing 34-year-old man has been found in Cape Town with multiple stab wounds. Ottery fire dispatch centre controller Michael Davids was reported missing after failing to arrive for work on Saturday. Police spokeswoman Noloyiso Rwexana said a case of murder was opened after officers responded to a complaint at 9am on Sunday and found the body on the side of Olieboom Road in Philippi. Davids worked at the dispatch centre for more than 10 years and lived in Kuils River. Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Theo Layne said the loss of a colleague in the emergency services was always painful: “We have had our chaplaincy offer support for the staff here‚ who are very shaken by the event.”

We want more cash, say striking Uber drivers

Uber drivers have demanded a bigger piece of the pie‚ telling the company they want to see more cash from each trip. This is the chief demand handed over to the company on Tuesday‚ as about 400 Uber and Taxify operators assembled at Uber’s offices in Kramerville‚ northern Johannesburg‚ to hand over a list of demands. The main demand was that Uber operators should get a bigger share from their profit-sharing agreement with the company. They want Uber to reduce the 25% share it deducted from every operator's trip to 15% and that operators have representatives on the company’s board of directors.

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Fishing about the market
A retailer picks out clams from a pile at the seafood section of a fish market in Beijing.
Image:
Reuters/Thomas Peter

SIX THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD YOU NEED TO KNOW

Laser gun created to ‘burn protesters' hair’

A Chinese firm has developed a laser gun designed for police use that can set fire to protesters’ hair or banners from a range of almost one kilometer. The general manager of the ZKZM fiber laser company said the weapon would ‘immediately’ produce a ‘strong pain response’ in the target but stressed it was designed to be ‘non-lethal’. He said it would need to be upgraded to a ‘laser cannon’ — with increased power — to become lethal and confirmed his firm was working on such a weapon. But he noted there was an international agreement not to develop killer lasers and said any such weapons would be ‘inhumane ... the pain would be unimaginable’. - AFP

Cleric who hid child abuse may sit at home

Australian archbishop Philip Wilson, 67, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world convicted of concealing child sex abuse in the church has been sentenced to a year in detention. He will remain on bail while he is assessed by prison authorities for home detention, instead of jail. Wilson was convicted of not disclosing to police abuse by another priest, James Fletcher, after being told about it in 1976 by two victims, including an altar boy who told him inside the confessional Fletcher was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of child sexual abuse and died in jail in 2006 following a stroke. Lawyers for Wilson, who maintained his innocence throughout the legal process, had argued that he did not know that Fletcher had abused a boy. – The Daily Telegraph

Has Britain got another Angel of Death?

A British female healthcare worker has been arrested on suspicion of murdering eight babies and trying to murder six others after an investigation into deaths at a neonatal unit in northern England. The arrest came after an inquiry into the deaths of 17 babies and 15 ‘non-fatal collapses’ between March 2015 and July 2016. The hospital said it was supporting detectives with their investigation, adding it was confident that the baby unit was ‘safe to continue in its current form’. - Reuters

University for women, even if they were men

A Japanese women’s university said it will admit transgender students, a rare move in a country where LGBT rights lag behind other developed nations. A university spokesman said the policy would come into force from fiscal year 2020, and would apply to would-be students who were born male but identify as female. About one in 13 people in Japan is estimated to belong to the LGBT community, according to private company research. Japan has no national legislation recognising same-sex partnership, though some local governments have policies recognising same-sex civil unions. And transgender Japanese face serious hurdles to changing their birth gender on legal documents. - AFP

EPA chief has his meal ruined at restaurant

A woman confronted US Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt at a restaurant and called on him to resign. The encounter was filmed and posted to social media. In the video the high school teacher walks up to Pruitt and tells him: ‘I just wanted to urge you to resign because of what you’re doing to the environment and our country. We deserve to have somebody at the EPA … who believes in climate change and takes it seriously for the benefit of all of us, including our children,’ she said, holding her toddler as she spoke. Pruitt allegedly fled the restaurant after the encounter. - AFP

Gay ‘conversion therapy’ to be banned in UK

Britain unveiled its ‘action plan’ to tackle discrimination against the gay community, which includes bringing forward legislation to ban the practice of conversion therapy. The plan was drawn up using data from an online survey that received 108,000 responses, making it the largest ever national survey of LGBT people anywhere in the world. Around 2% of respondents said they had received some form of conversion therapy, while another 5% had had it offered to them but refused. LGBT rights group Stonewall defines conversion therapy as “any form of treatment or psychotherapy which aims to reduce or stop same-sex attraction,” although the survey did not provide a definition. - AFP